V. writes:
Thank you for your amazing blog; I love hearing about everyone’s adventures in naming. My husband and I will be having a girl in July and are, like many others, struggling to find a first name we both like. We do have a bunch of options for the middle name so right now we are concentrating on the first. The baby’s last name will be C00ke (pronounced like someone who works in a kitchen). I come from a family where first names are fairly unique, but not made up. My last name is uncommon. He comes from a family with pronounceable biblical/traditional names.
We are interested in using a family name as a middle name. Family names for a middle include: Kelly, Adrienne, Anna, Ella, Evelyn, and Daphne. My husband likes Kelly or Anna and has crossed off Adrienne and Ella from that list. We also tend to like names without nicknames, but not a deal-breaker.
My top first name choice is a last name in my family: Meara (pronounced Mira). I can consider this as a middle but really love it as a first. My husband likes Mira but thinks everyone including the child will be confused about the spelling and pronunciation of Meara. I love it because it is common enough that when she says it people will understand it, yet it is semi-unique. How would you pronounce Meara as you see it? Would you be confused? Is it deal breaker confusion? My husband’s/the baby’s last name is SO common I’d like something a little more uncommon for the first name.
Other non-family names we are considering:
Fiona – Our joint second choice for a name. We like names from the British Isles.
Hannah – One of his top name choices. I originally took this out because of someone I knew, but put it back in because he likes it so much. It’s growing on me but prefer it as a middle if we use it.
Lydia
Cecilia
Dahlia/Dalia – I like it but keep thinking of a “baby doll”
Audra
Aubrey
Felicity
Hailey – another of my husband’s choices
Layla/Leyla
Leona
Zoe/ZoeyWe plan to have a second child. For boys my husband liked: Dylan, Conrad, and Orion; I liked Harper, Nolan, Harrison, and Wade (as a middle). I generally like last names as first names for boys.
Any assistance would be helpful, even if just a quick poll on the pronunciation of Meara or opinions on the name as my family spells it. Thank you so much!
When I file incoming name questions, I leave myself a little note about the issues in the post. With this one, my note ended up misleading me: I wrote: “want to use Meara; husband likes Mira, thinks Meara too confusing (pronunciation poll).” So when I chose it this morning, I was already composing my answer—something like “Yes, Meara isn’t too difficult but probably Mira would be easier all around and also more traditional/standard, but then again I think people would pick up Meara pretty quickly so no big deal either way” and etc.
But then as I was cutting and pasting the question, I saw it’s a family surname. Well, goodness. There are few things I like better than a family surname that can be used as a child’s first name, so that was exciting. But also, for me that completely ends the discussion: the spelling should be Meara. Spelling it Mira might be slightly easier in some ways, but it saps it of so much family meaning, it almost feels like it would be better to find another name. In fact, if it were me, and my husband wouldn’t use the spelling Meara, I think I WOULD decide it would be better to scrap the whole idea. Spelled Mira, it’s what people refer to as “a nod”—a little reference to your family surname, but not really using it.
Anyone who raises eyebrows or has trouble spelling/pronouncing it can be told, “Oh, yes, it’s a family name!” or “It’s my grandmother’s maiden name” (or whatever it is)—which ought to change them from “Why not spell it Mira?” to “OH HOW COOL I LOVE IT!!” in about 2 seconds flat.
I don’t think a Meara would be any more confused by her name than a Sophia or a Zach or an Elle or a John would be. Name spellings are often odd, and most children learn the spelling by memorization before they’re even thinking about phonetics.
I think the first time I saw the spelling Meara I might pause, because I’d be wondering if it was maybe a foreign spelling/pronunciation I was about to botch (as with Ciara, which can be KEER-rah or kee-AR-rah), and because it’s hard to tell how the sounds should be divided (does the E go with the M or with the A?). But as soon as I knew it was MEER-rah, I don’t think I’d have trouble anymore. The middle part is “ear,” which when we see it alone we pronounce “eer,” so that helps: as soon as I know the pronunciation, my eye sorts the name into the right chunks.
And now we’re getting a nice percentage of “first impression = like Mira” comments on the pre-question-posting survey, so that confirms what I was hoping. (I didn’t want to get blinded by my enthusiasm for family names!) We can keep an eye on that post as the comments continue to come in, to make sure it’s a percentage that’s okay with you. It shows you would be taking on some spelling/pronunciation issues with the name, but to me they don’t look severe—and the spelling Mira would also come with issues, such as people pronouncing it Myra or mistaking it for Mia.
I think Meara is the perfect name for your preferences. I suggest letting your husband have more sway with the middle name, to make things feel nicely balanced. (Though I’d also be keeping in mind that all the children would automatically have his surname in their names, so a name from your side of the family would already be addressing the issue of balance.)
Name update! V. writes:
I’m writing to thank everyone for your help in naming our little girl. We continued to consider Meara along with many of the other first and middle name choices in my original letter. We debated the name up until the very moment we were being discharged from the hospital and needed to finalize the birth certificate information. We settled on Meara Kelly C00ke and already think it fits her perfectly. Thanks again and happy naming!
It’s perfect! Understandable for introductions, possibly confusing when read, but like Swistle said, easily correctable. My vote is for Meara!
I was one of the people whose first instincts about pronunciation was wrong, but I like it anyway because of the family meaning. A lot names require clarification or correction. If you don’t mind that, I’d go for it and use one for your husband’s favorites for a middle.
I absolutely agree. Meara is lovely. And Meara C00ke? Divine. It sounds so fitting, like a literary heroine’s name. Simple yet distinct. If you’re flexible on the middle name, and since you are honoring family with the first name this way, I would love to see Fiona or Hailey in the middle. They seem to flow the best. And as Swistle suggested, letting your husband have Hailey would mean your first name preference is balanced out by his favourite in the middle.
Swistle is one smart lady! I agree with everything she said. And FWIW, I am one who saw Meara and right away though “Oh, like Mira”
At first I wasn’t a fan of the Meara spelling, and would have suggested going with Mira instead. I don’t think it takes too much away from the family significance. But then I got to Swistle’s excellent point of people pronouncing Mira like My-ruh and suddenly Meara seemed perfect!
Plus, I’m a numbers girl, so I think of it like this: I think 20% of the time people will think Meara is pronounced Mee-ar-uh, but I predict 40-50% of the time people will think Mira is pronounced My-ruh, and so the odds (and sentimentality) favor Meara.
I’m laying in hospital beside my newborn girl – Penelope Ruth Mera! It’s a beautiful name, my beloved Gran’s middle name, and we’re getting lots of compliments. I don’t think Meara is confusing. Go for it!!!
My daughter Meara is about to turn seven. She has not had any problem with it (except that she wishes we had named her Sophie). Occasionally we have to tell people how we pronounce it but it has not been much of an issue. We still love it!
I didn’t comment on the other post, but I am a “Meara = Mira” pronouncer. :)
I came home tonight to do my evening blog reading and was so happy to see my letter answered here! I’m excited to see what others think, and would love hearing middle name favorites from the ones suggested (or even others) if we do go with Meara. Can’t wait until my husband gets home so he can see the responses :) Thanks all!
I immediately thought Mee-rah when I saw the spelling Meara and My-rah when I saw Mira.
I don’t see a problem with the Meara spelling at all, as it is a very pretty name, and sounds great with your surname. Maybe you could use the spelling Mera, like an above poster used for their daughter, as most people are familiar with the name Vera and know how to pronounce it.
Evelyn is my favorite out of all your middle name choices. Meara Evelyn is adorable! Meara Felicity is pretty too.
All the best!
I vote for Meara Evelyn … I know your hubby likes Anna or Kelly, but neither of those work with Meara. Anna because of the A ending, Kelly because of the K sound (Kelly Cooke).
I just looked up the name Meara and it is an Irish/Gaelic girl’s name pronounced Mee-rah.
It’s meaning is described as:
“Mirth” in Irish, which is defined as cheerful, animated, or merry.
Basically it means happy. You can’t get much better than that!
Good luck!
I thought “Mare-ah”…but that’s only because I once knew a woman named Meara who pronounced her name that way. (Most people’s first instinct seemed to be to call her Mira). The alliteration in Meara Kelly Cooke sounds nice to my ears.
The other names on your list are also great. I might cross off Hannah because you have reservations and Hailey because it’s fairly common.
LOVE the idea of Meara Kelly!
Love Meara. I instinctively pronounced it Meer-uh, so I see no problem with it. I’d go with
Meara Felicity
Meara Evelyn
Meara Kelly
as my favorites.
I thought Meara was a lovely name before in the poll (and I would automatically go to the MEER-ah pronunciation), but your story makes it even better! I think Meara Kelly is absolutely wonderful, though it DOES give me a very distinct Irish feel (this to me is a plus, but may not be for others).
I knew a girl named Meara — spelled just like that too. I remember her saying that people always thought it was her last name (when explaining why she’d be going by “Ms. Meara” at a school where the rest of us all went by “Ms/Mr [Lastname]”), but other than that, she loved her name! I also don’t remember a single person (including the students, who were 5th graders!) having trouble with the pronunciation.
Also, I LOVE the name Orion.
Meara Kelly is my favorite, then Meara Evelyn, then Meara Daphne. Meara Ella and Meara Anna have too many repeating sounds for me, with Meara Anna seeming to run into each other, so it seems your husband and I have similar taste!
My daughter’s name is Mira, pronounced Meerah and at least one in four people pronounce it Myra. So spelling it Mira won’t eliminate the pronounciation issues, I say go with the family spelling!
My little sister is Ameara- pronounced the same way. My Mom chose that spelling over Amira to avoid her being called A- MY- rah. It means princess in Arabic which is sweet.
Anyway- we all call her Meara or Meara-belle. And she has never had anyone confused about how to spell it :)
I LOVE your name choice. Considering my own name is Kelly Meara. I was just looking to show somebody the meaning of my middle name and came across this. How crazy..
I just stumbled upon this post as I was looking at my daughter’s name again and was so happy to see other people naming their daughter this. My daughter was born in Jan 2015 and we named her Meara. Her last name is actually Kelley.
Thanks for the kind words on our name selection. Its been two years now and the name still fits. We get compliments on it all the time!
I’m obviously coming to this post some time later, but would just like to say that my name is Meara, pronounced the same, and it’s a great name that I’ve never really had trouble it. People always remember it and love it so much! I introduce myself “like Meara Meara on the wall” and people get such a kick out of it. Good luck to Meara Kelly, from Meara Diane <3